For those in the cloud

a letter to my foggy town in New Zealand

Good Morning Beautiful Wānaka, and to anyone else in the cloud,
you are beautiful
do you remember ....?

Photo: Summit of Mt Iron, taken in days of clear skies

Sometimes Life gets a little foggy eh
we can't see the road ahead of us
things are unclear
it all just feels a bit heavy
when everything appears so grey.

Photo: On the path, running, somewhere out there

"Be aware! Your Lights may Dazzle!"
warn our daily road reports.

Oh if only! If only our lights were dazzling
but due to a lack of vitamin D
we drag ourselves through our days
shoulders hunched heads down
our inner light dimmed.

If you are one of the many Wānaka-narians who have been away in Europe or Vietnam or Bali - I'm sorry, but please go easy on us, we don't need to see the sunny holiday photos, again. But great you got away - really.

It's at times like this that you need to dig deep.
You need to "find your edge(s)”
the Treble Cone ski report tells us this morning
unaware possibly of the helpful dose of double meaning.

I don’t want to sound like
Polyanna when my name is in fact Joanna,
but I am here to remind you
that there is still light to be found
in these days that roll on around every year
in this beautiful place we call Home.

It's kind of a part of it
just like all good things, they don't come easy.

Photo: climbing up, trying to get above the town’s inversion.

Look!
Your eyelashes have cloud droplets on them
they are sparkling disco balls shining and shimmering

and Look!
at how the winter growth shows off all of her colours
when your attention is not absorbed
by the stunning, and currently hidden, high mountain peaks

Photo: colour popping out of the fog

Fog isn’t so great for that instagram shot though is it?
The reason many travellers seem to come to Wānaka these days
is to take THE shot
dump
and then leave,
not everyone of course,
but some.

Photo: View Point: Instagrammer disappointment.

So Yay!
now you have a really good excuse to bring forth the nerd in you
and do that 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle
or curl up under a blanket and read War and Peace
or do a cafe crawl
find someone with a sauna
go to a yoga class
hug a lot, especially if the person is wearing a big wooly jumper,
bake a cake for your family and friends
tidy your tupperware drawer. Yipppeee...

Did you know that you can get a cup of hot soup
for free
at the Wānaka Community Hub
every Tuesday between 12-1.30pm?
A perfect offering to draw you out of your hibernation and interact with others too.

There is so much still to bring forth a little light:
Dance
Play music
Paint a painting
Roll some of these Scottish words for fog, of which there are many,
around your mouth:
Fret
Smirn
Mizzle
Jeez, they even make fog and inversion sound like heaven.

View from Treble Cone looking down onto the inversion covering Wānaka. Last week.

And anyway, what's to stop you putting on a hat and gloves
and getting out amongst it?
It doesn’t cost anything to get out in nature and
I guarantee you will come back inside feeling better,
better able to entertain your kids on school holidays, better able to focus at work, just better.

Oh and smile. 😁 It helps.
It may feel fake at first,
a bit tight and toothy,
do be aware of scaring other people until you've practiced a bit,
but your mind will eventually believe your smile
and that actually
things aren't so bad here in our Beautiful Foggy Wānaka.

Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Jo xx

On Cloud Nine. Last week with my daughter Eva.
What a gift. Up above the Inversion.
The best day ever Eva! Thank you.❤️

Can’t help myself. I have a secret soft spot for this John Denver song. 😊